Godzilla vs. Plague-Bringer Nosferatu
Godzilla vs. Plague-Bringer Nosferatu (otherwise known as Godzilla vs. Dracula or Godzilla vs. Nosferatu) is a late-Showa era horror/daikaiju film released and produced by Toho on October 29th, 1978. It is the sixteenth entry in the Godzilla series, and is a mostly standalone film, ignoring the events of most of the Showa films, excluding the original Gojira and Godzilla Raids Again. Plot The film opens in mid-1800's Romania, and shows the concerns of an angry mob. The mob wishes to storm a gothic, eerie-looking castle that looms over their village: Castle Orlock. The owner of the castle, Count Orlock, is accused of satanic rituals, and only appears to come out at night, while exhibiting erratic and peculiar behavior. There have also been sightings of a giant creature stalking the Transylvanian Alps at night. The mob, blindly acting on their own instincts, storm the castle and drive a wooden stake through Orlock's heart. They throw the supposed vampire in his coffin, and a priest seals the coffin with his prayers.... Fast-forward to the late 1970's, and Orlock stirs in his Coffin, the stake in his heart having rotted away by that time, and awakens. One flashy intro sequence later, and we cut to a businessman who goes by the name of Renfield. Renfield is driving in the Transylvanian Alps, having received a deal from an unknown client who wants to own a house in Japan. Renfield arrives to see that the village he was supposed to go to has been destroyed, while an eerie-looking castle has taken its place. Renfield enters the castle, as it's getting dark out, and meets his client: a tall, boney, pale, sickly-looking bald man with long fingernails. The man reveals himself as Orlock, and Renfield gives him the documents he needs. The deal is made, and Renfield is suddenly engulfed in darkness as a screeching-roar is heard. We cut to modern-day Japan, where we meet Doctor Kurosami. Kurosami is trying to create a serum that can erase any known bacterial diseases by creating newly formed white cells that can fight off the disease. Each and every one of his experiments has failed, and he's running out of the money needed to fund his research. He receives word that he's getting a new neighbor who's moving into the formerly abandoned house from across the street. The new neighbor just so happens to be Count Orlock, and he chose Japan to be his next base of operations... Meanwhile, in the arctic, an American submarine called "Seahawk" inadvertently crashes into an iceberg. The iceberg starts glowing, and the Seahawk suddenly, and violently, explodes... Kurosami starts to notice strange things going on at Orlock’s house. He can hear loud thumping sounds, but he writes it off as the house falling apart, due to the fact that it was abandoned beforehand. However, he starts to suspect the owner of the house once he hears reports of an odd string of murders that appear to be occurring in his neighborhood, and what sounds like loud chanting coming from Orlock’s house. Meanwhile, the iceberg that the Seahawk crashed into is still glowing, and appears to be crumbling away. Finally, the top of the iceberg is blown away by a sudden blast of atomic energy, revealing Godzilla, who was trapped in the ice for twenty-three years. Instinctively, the behemoth heads towards Japan. The news that Godzilla has returned spreads worldwide, and the Japanese Self Defense Force is quickly setting up its units to combat Godzilla. Godzilla arrives on the shores of Japan and starts destroying everything in his path, heading in a southward direction. Meanwhile, in the dead of night in the Kanto region, almost at the same time as Godzilla’s arrival, a giant, humanoid, batlike creature has appeared. The JSDF, now having to deal with two giant monsters, directs all of their firepower towards the kaiju. Tanks, fighter jets, ground troops; nothing can stop the two kaiju. The batlike creature, dubbed “Nosferatu”, fights off the artillery, while also consuming the soldiers. One of the tanks finally manages to blast off a chunk of Nosferatu’s flesh, and the creature limps away, disappearing, and the sun rises. Kurosami, who happened to be caught in the middle of the action, takes a piece of Nosferatu’s flesh and examines it, discovering that the contents in the blood are unnatural, and violently react to a prototype of the serum he created. He comes to the conclusion that Nosferatu's blood lacks the nutrients it needs for such a large creature to be alive, and is therefore contaminated. Due to Nosferatu’s attack, the people in the Kanto region are told to evacuate as soon as possible. Kurosami takes the notes he needs, and drives off. The following night, Nosferatu reappears, its wound fully healed. It intercepts the escaping Kanto region population, but just as it’s about to strike, it hears a familiar roar. Godzilla emerges from the other side of a hill, issuing a roar of challenge to the vampiric beast. The two titans duel, allowing the onlookers to escape the carnage. Kurosami realizes that his formula could possibly be used to kill Nosferatu, as Nosferatu’s body wouldn’t be able to handle the bacteria-eating serum due to the fact that the blood in Nosferatu’s body is contaminated to begin with. He relays this information to the JSDF, who agree to test it out with their missiles. The JSDF fits their missiles with the serum, which they locate in the head of the rocket. Meanwhile, Godzilla and Nosferatu continue their battle, crushing everything in their path. The missiles fitted with the serum line up on the hillside roads, ready to fire. They fire the missiles at Nosferatu, but Nosferatu manages to avoid them. The vampiric beast turns its attention to the source of the missiles and lunges, but Godzilla grabs it from behind, allowing the JSDF to get a good shot. The missiles are fired directly into Nosferatu’s chest, releasing the formula straight into its body. Nosferatu’s flesh starts to crumble into dust as it scrambles for cover, but Godzilla prevents its escape. As this is happening, the sun starts to rise. The sun’s rays engulf Nosferatu, killing him instantly. Godzilla, weary from his battle, returns to the sea. Kurosami and the JSDF watching from afar as the credits roll. Cast *Dr. Kurosami: Unknown Japanese Actor *Renfield: Unknown American Actor *Godzilla: Toru Kawai *Count Orlock: Unknown German Actor Staff - Director: Jun Fukuda - Soundtrack: Masaru Sato and Akira Ifukube (Ifukube handled the kaiju music, while Sato orchestrated the themes used for the horror scenes) Monsters *Godzilla (NosferGoji) *Nosferatu (ShodaiNosfer) Releases The film was released two years later in North America and Germany. When it was released in North America, it was given the name Godzilla vs. Dracula, even though the name "Dracula" isn't mentioned at any point in the plot. Alternate Titles *''Gojira tai Parugu-Bringah Nossferatoh'' (literal Japanese title) *''Godzilla vs. Dracula'' (original North American release title) *''Godzilla Fights Frankenstein's Dracula'' (literal original German title) *''Godzilla vs. Nosferatu'' (official international title) Category:Movies Category:Dracula Category:Mid Showa-Heisei Series